Overview
Ice-breaker 3 (IB3) could be the final IB before the formal sessions begin. Given this, IB3 should be used as an opportunity to also set the stage for the methodology-based sessions which are to follow. This can be done by making references to what is about to come, as well as providing a brief overview.
At this stage, since the participants would have already interacted with each other twice before, familiarity amongst everyone would have increased. However, to continue the effort of increasing conversations, you could do live polls post breakout room discussions to increase open interaction in the main session.
Keeping this in mind, IB3 would broadly consist of three components:
- Introduction: This would include greeting everyone and introducing the first question.
- Breakout rooms: This would include conversations between participants in breakout rooms where participants could be given questions they could answer.
- Open house: This would be an open conversation between all participants where they could speak on anything that they are interested in.
Session Structure
IB3 would continue the same structure of breakout rooms as in IB1 and IB2. This would make it easier for the participants to get comfortable with the session.
Keeping the same 60-minute duration for breakout rooms in mind, there should be multiple rounds of breakout rooms sessions i.e., each participant should be a part of more than 1 round of breakout rooms.
Conducting live polls and displaying answers in the main session could be beneficial for IB3 since the familiarity amongst participants would have already developed. Live polls could also be useful to increase engagement.
To administer live polls, you could use third party software such as Mentimeter, or inbuilt features on Zoom or Skype. Since live polls could take time, you could do 2 rounds of breakout rooms of 30 minutes each, as opposed to the previous 3 rounds.
Questions for the polls could include:
- If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
- Which of the themes mentioned in the brochure would you want to prioritise?
To facilitate this, the broad structure of the session would be:
| Part | Time Allocated | Objective |
| Part 1: Introduction | 10 minutes | Introducing yourself to the participants and welcoming them to the program. This session is also where the breakout room exercise should be explained. |
| Part 2A: 1st round of breakout rooms | 20 minutes + 10 minutes | The first round of breakout rooms should be created. Participants should be provided with one question that they should answer. The first 20 minutes should be conversations in the breakout rooms. The next 10 minutes should be allotted for administering the live poll. |
| Part 2B: 2nd round of breakout rooms | 20 minutes + 10 minutes | The second round of breakout rooms should be created. Participants should be provided with one question that they should answer. Groups in this round should be different than the groups in the first round. The first 20 minutes should be conversations in the breakout rooms. The next 10 minutes should be allotted for administering the live poll. In case you are asking them the question regarding themes (as is mentioned above), then you should also paste the themes on the chat. |
| Part 3: Open House | Post breakout rooms | Open House where participants speak on those issues that they are most interested in. Irrespective of the designated time allocated to the session, the Open House should be encouraged to continue even beyond the stipulated time. |
Logistics
Logistics for organising IB3 includes the following:
- Invitation email and WhatsApp message
- Calendar invite
- Message on WhatsApp Group
Each of these communications should be sent at regular time intervals in the days preceding IB3. Here are the templates for the communications.